


you’re the raise on the waves that calm my mind

by scriptophobia



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pirate, Declarations Of Love, Drinking, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Happy Ending, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Kidnapping, Kissing, M/M, Miscommunication, Slow Burn, Smitten Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Swordfighting, i mean. as slow as 6000 can be, its in like. two sentences, its not stockholm syndrome bc roman is a gentleman ok—, let me know if i missed anything!!, virgil is the only smart one tbh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:07:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28321386
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scriptophobia/pseuds/scriptophobia
Summary: in which roman is a pirate, janus is his captive, and they’re both dumbasses
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Deceit | Janus Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders & Deceit | Janus Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders & Logic | Logan Sanders, Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders/Deceit | Janus Sanders
Comments: 4
Kudos: 33





	you’re the raise on the waves that calm my mind

**Author's Note:**

  * For [lucernis](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lucernis/gifts).



> my contribution to the secret santa i did with my friends!!
> 
> merry christmas mercury, you’re okay ig ❤️
> 
> title is from fools gold by one direction hehe
> 
> (also i’m on tumblr @heavenly-roman pls be my friend)

The powerful waves strike the side of the ship, deterring it ever so slightly from it's place against the remnants of the rival vessel. Logan drags the only survivor of their raid across the deck. The man struggles uselessly against his grip, his bound hands proving to be of no help, as he suspects. 

He squirms in defiance while Logan chastises him for said action, earning a sharp tug of his hair and eliciting a small whimper. Logan pushes him forward once they reach the captain’s quarters, allowing him to stumble.

“Captain,” Logan addresses. He pushes the prisoner to his knees, holding his head down to stare at the floorboards. “What do we do with him?”

“Leave him here,” Roman answers, back turned to the two. “I need to ask him a few questions. We'll figure out what to do with him afterwards.”

Logan nods briskly and stomps out, the door creaking as he slams it. The prisoner flinches, causing Roman to chuckle. He turns. 

“Afraid of a little noise, sweetheart?” He lifts the prisoner’s chin and stares into his mismatched eyes. “It’s about to get a lot worse.”

Roman circles the man on his knees a few times, occasionally tugging on his tied hands or shoving him in a show of power. He stops in front of him and uses his foot to lift the captive’s chin again. 

“Who are you?” Roman asks. 

The captive says nothing, snarls and spits on Roman’s boot. 

The Captain laughs sinisterly and bends down to wipe his shoe. He quickly pulls the prisoner to his feet by his hair and growls, “If you  _ ever _ disrespect me like that again, I will not hesitate to throw you overboard. Got it?”

The prisoner nods frantically and winces as his body hits the floor. He curls in on himself when Roman kicks his stomach. 

“I’ll ask you again, who are you?”

“Lyre,” the prisoner coughs out. “Janus Lyre.”

“Janus Lyre,” Roman spits his name like it’s a poison on his tongue. “You’re an english soldier?”

At Janus’ nod, Roman continues, “Alright then. Give me one good reason I shouldn’t feed you to the sharks right now.”

“I’m one hell of a swordsman.” Janus’ confidence returns, his sly smirk settling back onto his scarred face. He sits up, ignoring the throbbing pain from his previous battle. “And I’m sure I could teach your crew a thing or two.”

The captain’s laugh echoes through his chambers. “What makes you think you’re better than anyone on my crew?” 

“I know I am.”   
  
“Says the one who was captured by them mere minutes ago?” Roman dismisses. “Kid—”

“Don’t call me kid—”   
  
“—You’ve got gusto, I’ll give you that, but I think you’ll make better fish food than anything else, so—”   
  
“I bet I could beat you.”

Roman stops in his tracks, an incredulous look on his face. “Beat  _ me _ ?”

Janus shrugs his shoulders best he can. “You heard me, Captain fancy pants. I’ll make you a proposition - if you beat me, you can throw me overboard, or whatever you please. I beat you, though? You let me join your crew.”

“I’ve never seen someone with a deathwish like yours, kid. You've got yourself a deal.”

+++

“Captain,” Logan whispers harshly. “I’m not sure if this is the best idea. The prisoner—”

“Janus.”   
  
“ _ Janus _ , seems oddly confident. Are you sure we have room for another crewmate?”

Roman chuckles. “Logan, my dear advisor, my best friend, the wind in my sails, the—”

“Get on with it, Roman.”

“If soldier boy manages to beat me, I plan to make his days on this ship a living  _ hell.  _ He’ll jump ship before you can say ‘get off my boat’.” Roman graces his features with his award winning smile. “Now, hand me my sword.”

+++

“So… Janus, you said?” 

“I did, yes. You said your name was Vincent?”

“ _ Virgil. _ ”

“I know that,” Janus chuckles. He winces as Virgil applies more pressure to his wounded side. “I was messing with you.”

“Ha ha, very funny.”

“You were saying?”

Virgil sighs. “Listen, I’m sure you’re a decent swordsman, but be real with me here. Do you  _ really _ believe you can beat the captain? Given your injuries, and what I’ve seen Roman do, I’d say you have a slim chance.”

Janus pauses. “His name is Roman?”

“I— What?”

“The captain's name. It’s Roman?”

“You didn’t know that?”

“I can’t say that our meeting was friendly enough to be on a first name basis,  _ Virgil _ ,” Janus jeers. 

The silence in the air is thick, and Virgil sighs again. “Look, I’m just trying to look out for you. You seem… okay, at the very least, and I can’t imagine you want to swim with the fish.”

Janus scoffs and stands, rebuttoning his shirt. “You’ll see just what I can do. I’m a lot smarter than you give me credit for.”   
  
“Whatever you say, Shark Bait.”

+++

“The rules are simple,” Logan speaks to the crew. “The duel will continue until someone surrenders.”

Roman smirks as he looks Janus up and down. “Shouldn’t be too long,” he laughs, his crew hollering in response.

“Are the opponents ready?” Logan asks. When both parties nod, he continues, “Good. I will step into the crowd, and you will begin. Let the best swordsman win.”

“I will,” says Janus.

Roman charges, swinging his weapon towards Janus’ injured side, which he dodges. “Is that all you got?” He taunts.

“Not even close, Lyre.” Roman narrowly misses the sword swinging towards his shoulder. The two swords clash once, twice, three times, before Janus swings low and knocks Roman off his feet.

Roman lands hard on his hip, his sword skidding away from him. The Captain, not ready to accept defeat, rolls quickly to retrieve his weapon. He jumps up, his irritation apparent on his face. He runs again, this time faking out his swing towards Janus’ side again, instead nicking his opposite forearm.

Janus hisses in pain, and their swords clash again. Surveying the area, Janus makes a split second decision — he begins moving forward, intentionally pushing Roman back towards a wall separating the stairs to the crew cabins. 

Roman’s back hits the wall with a loud thud, and Janus’ sword is pressed against his neck. Janus chuckles, and Roman can feel it on his face, “give me one good reason I shouldn’t feed you to the sharks right now.”

“That wasn’t part of the deal,” Roman’s breath is heavy. He neturalizes his expression, careful not to give Janus the satisfaction of Roman being impressed.

“Soldiers don’t always keep their promises, now do they, Roman?” Janus moves so the tip of his sword is holding Roman’s chin up. “Anything to say for yourself, Captain?”

Roman’s resigned breath is all Janus needs to hear.

“Welcome to the Juliet.”

+++

“So you’re the one who kicked my brother’s ass?” 

Janus  _ doesn’t _ scream, and absolutely  _ doesn’t _ practically fall off of his newly assigned bottom bunk.

The man who is swinging upside down from the top bunk chuckles, “I’m Remus!”

“Janus.”

“I know!” Remus jumps down from the top bunk and, impressively, lands on his feet in front of Janus. He looks smug, saying, “You just pointed a sword at my brother's neck. Word gets around a small ship.”

“Captain Roman is your brother?”

“Yep!”

“And you’re not co-captain?”

“Nope! RoRo didn’t think I’d be a good captain. My own brother,” Remus tsks. He shrugs. “He was right, of course, but it still hurt.”

“So you’re just a crewmate?” Janus scoffs. “That hardly seems fair.”

“I was offered Logie’s spot, but decided against it,” Remus shrugs. “He already had the stick up his ass, anyways.”

Janus snorts, then is silent for a few moments while Remus picks at his dirty nails. “Remus?”

Remus hums, and Janus continues, “would you mind telling me about who’s on this ship?”

“My pleasure, Shark Bait!” Before Janus can correct him to  _ not _ call him that, thank you very much, he begins walking with haste, and Janus struggles to keep up with the tour. “You know RoRo so I’ll skip the introduction, and I believe you’ve met Virgie?”

They pass by Virgil, who waves to Remus and nods at Janus. “He’s the crew medic, one of the best on the seven seas. Next is Logan, the captain's advisor—”

“Oh trust me, I know Logan,” Janus shudders. “He’s the one who brought me to Roman in the first place.”

“Kinky.”

“I am going to throw you overboard.”

“Useless, I could beat a shark in a fist fight anyday,” Remus beams. He links his arm with Janus’. “Now, this tour stuff is boring, let’s go bother my brother, shall we?”

+++

“—And I think our next stop should be...” Roman trails off as Remus bursts through his cabin door, Janus in tow. “Can I help either of you?”

“I don’t think now is a good time, Remus,” scolds Logan, a sour look on his face. “Why don’t you go knit with Emile?”   
  
“Oh Logie Bear, you know that knitting stuff isn’t for me! I’d rather learn about nautical knots, think you could teach me?” Remus purrs.

“You disgust me.”   
  
“That’s not a no.”

Roman, choosing to ignore his brother’s antics, turns to Janus. “Was there something you needed, Treasure, or did you—”

“Wait, what did you just call me?” Janus is quick to interrupt, “You hold a sword to a guy’s throat _one_ _time_ and he starts flirting with you.”

“I— That wasn’t  _ flirting _ , it’s a nickname! We  _ found _ you! You’re our treasure!”

“Sounds like flirting to me, RoRo,” Remus laughs.

“I’m afraid I must agree with your brother, Captain,” Logan says reluctantly. 

Roman sputters indignantly before pouting, “you guys are mean, I wasn’t flirting.”

Janus turns on his heel to leave, not quite closing the door before he says, “Whatever you say, RoRo.”

+++

Janus lies in his bunk, thoughts swimming in his head to match the waves crashing against the exterior of the ship. The moon shines in through his window, giving him the sliver of light he needs to see that everyone else in the cabin is asleep. 

Sighing, he gets out of bed as quietly as possible, walking out into the main deck to overlook the sea. He watches for a few moments, barely acknowledging the presence of the person who moves beside him.

“Can’t sleep?” Asks Roman.

“Sea sick,” Janus jokes. “Do you always come out here at two in the morning?”

“Insomnia,” Roman answers. “The sea whispers to me, she puts me to sleep most nights.”

“I can see why, it’s so peaceful out here.”   
  
“It certainly is a nice break from everything going on from day to day.” 

It's silent for a few moments.

“Did you let me win?” Janus asks suddenly.

“Pardon me?”   
  


“The duel. Did you let me win?”

Roman chuckles, “No, no I didn’t.”

“I knew it— Wait, you  _ didn’t _ ?”

“No, I…” Roman sighs, runs a hand down his face. “I was actually doing my best. So… you beat me. Fair and square, Lyre.”

Janus stares for a moment, and Roman breaks the awkward silence, “But if you tell anyone that, I’ll deny it, and toss you overboard.”   
  
“That wasn’t a part of the deal, Captain.”

“Pirates don’t always keep their promises, now do they, Janus?”

“I suppose not.” 

The silence comes again, but this time it’s peaceful, comfortable, and Janus yawns. “I should head to bed. Goodnight, Roman.”

“Goodnight, Treasure.”

+++

“Virgil, I have an issue,” Roman storms into the medic’s cabin.

“Hello to you too, Captain,” Virgil pats his patient’s bed, signalling Roman to sit. “What’s wrong?”

Roman sits. He swings his legs. Taps his fingers. Plays with his hair.

“Could you  _ please _ speak? Your anxiety is heightening mine and we both know that’s not ideal.”

“Oh! Right, sorry,” Roman at least has the decency to look sheepish. “I, um… I believe I have…  _ feelings… _ for a crewmate.”

“Feelings?”   
  


“Romantic feelings.”   
  


“Oh,” Virgil pauses. “Yeah, duh.”   
  


“ _ Duh _ ?”

“Are these feelings for Shark Bait?”

“No?”

Virgil sighs, and turns to face the Captain fully. “Roman, level with me here. You are one of the  _ gayest _ men I have ever met. A pretty, beaten up boy comes onto your ship, questions your authority, and points a sword at your neck. You’re telling me you  _ wouldn’t _ catch feelings for him?”

“Well when you put it that way…” Roman rubs the back of his neck. “But… I can’t. I can’t do anything about it.”

“Why not?”

“It’s inappropriate, I— I’m his  _ captain _ , Virgil.”

“Kick him off the ship, easy solution,” Virgil shrugs. 

“No!” Roman cries. He sinks further down onto the bed. “I just have to bury these feelings deep down in my body and then possibly explode one day. It’ll be fine.”

“You sure buddy?” Virgil questions as Roman hops off the bed and begins waltzing out the room. 

“Nope!” He responds cheerily, closing Virgil’s door. 

+++

“So you just have to flick your wrist like this,” Janus explains, slowing down his movement. “Get it? The quick action will throw your opponent off, and you’ll get the upper hand. Easy.”

“I still don’t understand why you’re giving me fighting lessons,” Roman grumbles. He repeats the action, albeit a little sloppy. 

“Which one of us won our duel again?” Janus smirks. 

“Are you going to hold that over my head forever?”

“Obviously not,” Janus shrugs. “Just until I get something better to blackmail you with.”

Roman rolls his eyes, repeating the action once more. “Like this?”

“Here, let me,” Janus says. 

Roman watches as he slides behind the shorter man. He startles when Janus’ hands snake out from behind him. He grabs Roman’s wrist with his right hand, his left settling on Roman’s hip. Roman has to stop his breath from hitching at the contact.

“You hold your hand like  _ this _ ,” explains Janus. “Then you move it like  _ this _ .”

Roman nods, slowly repeating the move over and over, trying not to focus on the points of contact he has with Janus. He barely notices Janus’ words, only noticing when he moves away.

“Now you try.”   
  


Roman swallows hard. Slowly, he repeats the movement, looking back to Janus for reassurance.

“See! I told you that you could do it,” Janus beams, and  _ wow _ , Roman is going to have to make him smile like that more often. 

“So I can beat you now?” Roman taunts.

“Oh, absolutely not,” Janus laughs. “But Remus? Probably.”

Roman groans as his instructor chuckles again, and Roman soaks in the sound as best he can. The way he tosses his head back, the way his shoulders shake, the melodious sound of his laugh, the—

“I know I’m pretty, Captain, but  _ surely _ , do you have to make your staring so obvious?”

Roman flushes pink as Janus laughs again, and he shoves Janus’ shoulder. “Stop laughing at me,” he whines.

“You’re just too easy to tease, Roman,” Janus shrugs. “But if it makes you feel better, you’re not the only one I tease.”   
  


It did not, in fact, make Roman feel better. Rather the opposite, actually — it made him feel  _ incredibly _ worse. Roman laughs it off as they finish the lesson, retiring to his cabin for the rest of the night.

+++

Janus finds himself wandering towards the smell of freshly made bread, into the ship’s small kitchen of which he frequents, more often than not, in the middle of the night. He swings the door open, the smell wafting through the air as he does so. 

“You want some?” Roman asks, pointing to the loaf in the middle of the table. He’s covered in flour, a shy smile gracing his features. “It’s the best I can do in the middle of the ocean.”

Janus opens and closes his mouth, sputtering and stammering, before he finally spits out, “you  _ bake _ ?”

“Clearly, Treasure,” Roman rolls his eyes. “I have some butter if you wanted that with it. Be careful, it’s hot too.”   
  
“Too?”

Roman winks, brushing his hands on his pants, unsuccessfully removing the flour from them. “Try it before it fully cools, this is when it’s best.”

Pointedly ignoring Roman’s attempt at flirting, Janus tentatively rips a small chunk off the loaf. He dips it into the butter, eyes widening as he tastes it. 

“Thoughts?” Roman is giddy, bouncing on the balls of his feet as he watches Janus. 

“I— This is the best bread I have  _ ever _ tasted, Roman.”

“You really think so?” Roman’s voice is different, the most vulnerable Janus has ever heard it. “It was my mother’s recipe, I tweaked it a bit over the years, but… you think she’d be proud?”

Janus’ face softens, and he connects the dots that this is definitely not about bread anymore. “Yes, Roman, she would be proud. Uh, of your baking. The bread. She would be proud of your bread.”

“Thanks, Shark Bait.”

+++

“Okay, why don’t we play truth or dare?”

“You’re all children,” Janus laughs. He sips his beer leisurely, pretending to  _ not _ hate it. “You seriously want to play truth or dare?”

“Obviously you don’t take truth or dare as seriously as we do, Shark Bait,” Remus scolds. “I, personally, like to worm deep, dark, personal secrets out of my drunk crewmates.”   
  
“You have literally never done that, Remus,” Virgil shoves him. He turns to Janus, “It’s just a way to let loose, you know? Down to play?   
  
“Why the hell not?” Janus lifts his cup and his crewmates cheer , Janus once again grimacing at the taste.

Five rounds and eight drinks later, the shipmates are all slurring and spilling secrets as promised.

“J-Janus,” Roman hiccups, “tell me about your scar.”

“I didn’t say truth,” Janus retorts.   
  
“Don’t care, tell us.”   
  
“I, um, we were hiding out in - in an enemy campsite and,” Janus swallows hard, the drunkenness seemingly leaving his body as he recalls the story. He flexes his face, the scar covering his left eye and cheek tightening as the skin moves. “There was an explosion, they had found us. I was the only survivor, and came out with a pretty nasty scar.”

There was a silence, the crewmates all shocked from the story. Well,  _ almost _ all.

“I think it’s badass,” slurs Roman. “It makes your face more interesting, and trust me, I’m interested in it.”

Janus laughs, “I know Roman, I know.”

“Does it still hurt?”   
  


The question throws Janus off, but he answers anyway, “No, not really. Seems it’s just for intimidation now.”

“I’m not intimidated,” Roman huffs.

“Tell that to our duel,” Janus teases.

“I could totally beat you, y’know.”

“Sure, Roman. Whatever you say.”

+++

“Captain!” Calls Logan. “There’s a ship headed straight towards us, what’s your call?”

Roman peers over his Advisor’s shoulder. “We can take them, don’t change our course.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive,” Roman affirms. He calls down to his crew. “Looks like we’re about to have Treasure’s first raid! You all know your positions, and Janus? Come chat with me. To the Juliet!”

“To the Juliet!” the crew cheers. 

Roman and Janus meet halfway, and Roman begins, “I want you to stay near me.”

“Like hell, you know I’m a better swordsman than half of your crew,” Janus scoffs. “Just because I’m new doesn’t mean I need special treatment, Roman.”

“You will  _ not _ speak to me like that, Janus. I am your Captain, you will listen to me,” Roman snarls. “This is your first raid. You don’t know how pirates fight. It’s dirty. You’ll get yourself hurt if you go off by yourself.”

“I can handle it.”

“No, you can’t!”

“Yes I can, why don’t you trust me?”

“Because you’re too valuable to lose!” Roman screams. He points an accusatory finger at Janus. “You want to be killed? Fine, be my guest! But don’t come crying to me when you’re injured, just like I said you would be.”

Janus huffs and storms away, and if Roman wasn’t so livid he would’ve compared him to an angry toddler. 

The Juliet crashes into the rival ship, and the crew hops onto it, swords and other various weapons at the ready. Janus scans the deck and finds a pirate charging at him. He unsheathes his sword, the duel feeling uncomfortably familiar. 

The rival hits Janus’ side, the blood immediately seeping through Janus’ shirt. He thinks little of it and he continues waving his weapon, slicing the other’s shoulder. 

Janus pauses, holding his side, and tries not to glance over at Roman. He overhears his opponent speaking to someone, something along the lines of  _ don’t hurt this one too bad _ , and  _ he seems to be the captain‘s favourite.  _

Alarm bells start ringing in Janus’ head, and before he can either run away or find one of his crewmates, his opponent strikes his leg, sending Janus tumbling to the ground. He gives into his temptation this time, turning to see Roman dueling someone on the opposite side of the deck. 

Janus hears a chuckle from above him, and someone roughly pulls him to his feet. He’s held against (he assumes) the rival captain's front by his arm, as well as with a sword that’s pressed against his neck. 

“Aren’t you a pretty little treasure?” Says his captor, and the nickname that usually gives him butterflies just serves to turn his stomach. “What’s your captain's name?”

Janus swallows hard, pointedly ignoring the fact that he’s shaking. “R-Roman.”

“Oh Captain Roman?” Calls the pirate. “I have something here for you.”

Roman turns his head slightly, before dropping his weapon altogether. “Let him go,” Roman demands. 

“How adorable,” the rival captain coos. “He thinks he can get something without asking nicely. What’re the magic words, Captain?”

“I said,” Roman growls, “To let him  _ go _ .”

“Tell your crew to drop their weapons, and I’ll think about it.” Janus can smell the pirate's rancid breath from behind him, and he does his best to try and wriggle out of his grip. The captain shifts a little, stroking Janus’ face with a finger. “Oh, you’re not going anywhere yet, sweetcheeks.”

Roman, whitefaced and conflicted, motions for the crew to stop fighting. “Now what?”

“Anything you took from our ship, drop it now.” The sword bites into Janus’ skin a little further. He focuses on the clanging of possessions falling to the ground instead of the minute fear he can see in Roman’s eyes.

“Give me my crew member back,” Roman snarls. 

“Since you asked so nicely,” The pirate gives a wicked grin, swiftly moving his sword from Janus’ neck to slash across his chest. He pushes Janus forwards, who stumbles to the ground. His vision goes spotty, the searing pain from his chest all he can focus on.

“Get off my ship.”

The crew of the Juliet all hop onto their deck at varying speeds and concerns for their injured mate. Roman rushes to grab Janus, who goes limp in his arms, pulling him close to his chest and onto their ship. Ignoring the looks and comments from his ruder crew, he brings Janus to Virgil’s cabin.

Back to the door, Virgil begins, “So I take it the raid didn’t go so well?”   
  


“Help, please,” pleads Roman, and Virgil spins, his cocky facade dropping at his captain's tone.

“ _ Shit _ ,” Virgil curses. “Lay him down.”

Roman places him down with haste, as gently as he possibly could be, ignoring the blood - Janus’ blood - that's drying on his torso. Virgil begins pulling Janus’ shirt off, and Roman tears his eyes away.

“Bring me that bottle,” Virgil demands. “Might as well make yourself useful.”

“Good thing you’re unconscious, because this is gonna sting like a bitch,” Virgil mutters. He wipes Janus’ chest and side down with rubbing alcohol, disinfecting the wounds and cleaning the blood from them. 

“What happened?” Virgil asks, preparing to give Janus stitches.

“I— he went off on his own, someone held a sword to his neck, h-he—”

“Hey, Roman, it’s okay. He’ll be okay, don’t get worked up.” Virgil does his best to sound calm.

“But it’s my fault! I shouldn’t have let him—”

“It was his choice, you warned him and he didn’t listen. There’s nothing you could’ve done to change his mind.”

“I kept looking at him!” Roman bursts. He paces the small cabin, aggressively running his fingers through his hair. “I kept watching him, they must’ve caught on! It’s my fault, he got hurt because I’m overprotective, if I just  _ trusted _ him, if I wasn’t so damn in love with him—”

“Roman!” Virgil snaps. “Blaming yourself won’t help anything. What  _ will _ help is if you stop pacing and stressing me the fuck out. He’ll be fine. Don’t worry.” 

Roman is silent for a few moments, watching Virgil finish up the stitches, and he sighs. “I’m sorry.”

“As you should be.” Virgil huffs, setting his tools down. “I’m done, and it looks like someone is waking up. I’ll leave you to it.”

Janus stirs as Virgil closes the cabin door, and Roman rushes to his side. “Janus? Are you okay?”

“Hm?” He hums. He reaches his hand out, feeling around before grabbing Roman’s hand and squeezing. Roman’s heart skips a beat. He squeezes back.

“What happened?” Janus groans. He peels his eyes open, moaning at the sudden bright light.

“You were an idiot,” Roman says fondly. “Over sixty stitches, so maybe next time you’ll actually listen to me.”   
  


“Never gonna happen, Cap.”

“Didn’t think so.” 

They sit in silence for a moment.

“Janus?”

“Yes, Roman?”

“I’m… I’m really glad you’re safe.”

“Yeah, me too, Roman. Me too.”

+++

The cool midnight air bites into Janus’ skin as he walks on the main deck, the moon illuminating the waves once again. He notices a body curled up against the rail overlooking the crashing sea.

“What secrets is she telling tonight?”

Roman startles, his expression morphing into one of relief once he sees who joined him. “She’s telling me to follow my heart.”

Janus sits opposite of Roman. “She’s very wise, you know.”   
  
“I was never a fan of cliches.”

“Neither am I. Maybe I can give some advice worth your while.”

“I don’t think you can,” Roman scoffs. He looks back out into the horizon. “My mind and heart are too jumbled to decipher anything worth talking about.”

“Lay it on me.”

There’s silence. A tension, so taught that anything could snap it. Roman sighs.

“I should follow my heart.”

“If that’s what you need,” Janus shrugs. He scooches to sit cross legged in front of Roman, knees knocking knees. He leans in, “Do what you need, Roman.”

The tension is back. Janus’ breath fans across Roman’s face. It feels familiar. The tension snaps.

Roman’s hand flies to the back of Janus’ neck, pulling him in for a kiss. Janus’ lips are soft against Roman’s own, his hands place themselves on Roman’s hips in a familiar fashion. Roman’s other hand drifts to Janus’ face, lightly stroking the scar on his lover’s face. 

It’s when they pull apart to breath that Roman realizes what he has just done. 

“Fuck I— I’m so sorry Janus, I—“ 

“Don’t, um,” Janus chuckles sheepishly. “Don’t be sorry, it’s okay.”

“I shouldn’t have done that, I’m sorry,” Roman sighs, running his hand down his face. “I’m your captain, that was incredibly inappropriate for me to do.”

“And it’s not like I’m your prisoner or anything,” Janus supplies, unhelpfully. “Stockholm syndrome and all.”

The silence that follows is awkward and tense, to say the least. The sounds of waves crashing and clearing throats fill the air as the two sit with their decision. 

“I’m gonna go back to my cabin,” says Janus. He stands and waves, retreating back from the way he came. 

Roman looks out into the ocean, disappointed that for once in his life, she had let him down. 

+++

The Juliet docks beside a small town, the crew all filing off. Roman grabs Janus’ arm, silently asking him to stay back. 

“What’s wrong?” Janus asks. 

“Look, I—” Roman sighs. “This is a lot harder than I thought it would be, but, um, you’re free to go.”

“Pardon me?”

“You’re free to go. You’re not happy on the ship, and you deserve to be living the life you want to. Go back to your family, your friends, whatever. Just— don’t come back with us.”

“Roman—“

“This is for the best. Go.”

And without a second’s hesitation, Janus leaves. He doesn’t stop to say goodbye to Roman, Virgil, Logan, or Remus. He doesn’t collect anything that he once claimed as his on the ship. 

He walks away, and Roman watches him. 

+++

“What the  _ fuck _ is your problem?” Virgil storms into Roman’s cabin, frazzled as ever. 

Roman is lying on his bed, staring at nothing in particular. “What  _ ever _ could you mean?”

“Don’t get smart with me,  _ Captain _ ,” Virgil pushes Roman’s feet to the side and sits at the end of the bed. “You told him to  _ leave _ ?”

“It’s what he needed.”

“No, you selfish asshole, it’s what you  _ thought _ he needed!”

“You told me to kick him off the ship!”

“I was fucking kidding! Did you ever ask him what he needed?”

“I didn’t have to.”

“You’re insufferable,” Virgil huffs. “So you let him leave and now what? You’ll sit in here and mope until the end of time?”

“That sounds like a good plan,” Roman shrugs as best he can while lying down. 

“You can’t do that, Ro.”

“Damn.”

“Roman, I swear to all things holy, I will not hesitate to smack some sense into you,” Virgil stands and begins pacing. He runs a hand through his hair, displacing the strategic mop on his head. “He  _ likes _ you, dumbass! I have never seen anyone act more in love than Janus Lyre.”

“Too late now,” Roman mumbles. 

Virgil, to his credit, is surprised he lasted this long into the conversation before getting physical. He pulls Roman into a sitting position, hopefully shaking his pea brain into the correct spot to start working again. 

“Roman, listen to me,” Virgil says, as sternly as he could muster. “You can’t take it back. You might wish you could, but the hard truth is you messed up, and now you pay the consequences.”

“Great pep talk, Virge.”

“Shut up, I’m getting to it,” Virgil rolls his eyes. “You’re gonna go out there, and you’re gonna lead this crew like you always have, okay? If Janus chooses to come back, he will come back to the smoothest running ship he’s ever seen. Do you understand me?”

Roman shrugs. 

“I  _ said _ , do you understand me?”

“I understand you.”

“Perfect. Now get dressed, because your clothes are starting to smell.”

+++

“Alright men!” Roman calls to his crew. “This will be the biggest pillage to date! I hope you’re ready.”

“Roman,” Logan says from beside him. “Are you sure this is a smart idea? I’m not sure our crew is equipped to—”

“Oh shut it, nerd,” Roman scoffs. “We can do this. I have faith in them.”

“But should you? You let our best swordsman go and—”

“Yes, I know, thank you Logan. If you could stop reminding me of my months old mistake, I would appreciate it.” 

Logan is silent as he watches Roman take a few shuddering breaths. “You’re right. I’m sorry for bringing it up.”

“I accept your apology, I suppose,” teases Roman. His usual smirk easily slides itself back onto this face. “Now let’s kick some ass!”

They steer the Juliet towards the ship just passing their left, throwing it off its course. The ship stops, but before any of the crew can jump onto the rival boat, the crew of the other ship take over the Juliet’s deck. 

The two crews begin fighting, and to Roman’s horror, he quickly realizes they’re outnumbered. He resigns himself to dueling faster, smarter, deadlier. 

Crew member after crew member begin falling, the rival crew getting cockier after every injury to his crew. 

Roman’s distracted, his concern falling to his crew, when he gets hit in the arm, knocking his sword across the deck. it’s eerily familiar to his duel with Janus, and he wills himself to not think of it. 

His feet get kicked from under him, and with a sword pointed at his neck, Roman sighs and accepts his fate. 

That is, until the ship gets jostled from it’s place, another crew jumping into the deck of the Juliet. 

_ Great _ , thinks Roman,  _ two against one _ . 

He sees a flash of yellow before the sword is flung from under his chin. He sits up, and a sword is handed to him by the yellow clad man he almost doesn’t recognize. 

“Janus?”

“Long time no see, RoRo.” Janus smirks. Roman thinks both the confidence and Captain's jacket look good on him. “Beat these guys first, catch up later?”

Roman nods, a little shell shocked, before standing and starting to fight again. He notices the new crew, all wearing some sort of yellow accent. Absently, Roman decides to make his crew wear red in the future. 

They all fight like Janus, he also notes. Quick, sharp, and calculated. They also solve problems like Janus, if the splashes and screams from the rival crew are anything to go by. 

When the last of the rival crew is dealt with, Janus whistles to his crew, and they all begin climbing back onto his ship, of which Roman fails to notice is called the Romeo. 

“We’re heading back to shore, meet us there? We can grab a drink and catch up.” Janus suggests. 

“Of course,” Roman breathes.

“See you there, Ro.”

“See you there, Treasure.”

Janus gives a smile and hops back onto the Romeo. 

Virgil shoots Roman a look. 

“Shut your mouth, Virge.”

+++

“So Virgil had to give you a pep talk after you let me go?” Janus laughs. He lifts the glass to his lips, sipping while Roman glares. “What? I think it’s cute.”

Roman flushes and pushes at Janus’ arm, causing him to laugh into his drink again.

“Janus?”

The scarred man turns, expression growing somber at Roman’s serious tone.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Yeah,” Janus says, all the breath seemingly knocked out of him.

“Why did you leave?”   
  


“You… You told me to.”

Roman lets out a humourless chuckle. “You and I both know you could've said no and I would’ve let you stay, Treasure.”

“I… Yeah, I know that.”

“So why?”

Janus feels his cheeks heat up. “I’m embarrassed to say.”

Roman’s hearty laugh eases some of Janus’ shame, if just for a moment. “What, gonna say that you were too in love with me to stay?”

Janus’ flush moves down to his neck as well, and Roman’s eyes light up in amusement. 

“Holy shit, I was  _ right _ ?”

“Shut up, you were not,” Janus grumbles.

“I was! I was right!” Roman’s wide smile turns into a flirtatious grin. “You’re in love with me?”

“No!” Janus defends himself, maybe a little too quickly. “I just… I thought it would be more fair if we were equals.”

“What?”

Janus curses himself for falling for such a dumbass.

“The night we kissed. You said it was inappropriate, because you were my captain. Remember?”   
  


Roman winces at the reminder, “Yeah, I remember, but what—”

Janus rolls his eyes, mutters something about Roman being an idiot, and kisses him. Roman, to his credit, reacts in just a second, places his hands on Janus’ face, keeping him against his face. He strokes his thumb across Janus’ scar, a familiar action.

Janus pulls away, just an inch or two, and chooses to ignore Roman’s little whine.

“I’m not your crewmate or prisoner anymore,” Janus breathes. “I’m a fellow captain. There’s no rules against us now.”

“You’re right,” Roman chuckles, breathlessly. “You’re right.”

“As usual,” Janus smiles. He leans back more, laughing. “You know, I thought you would’ve figured it out when I matched my ship name to yours.”

“What?” 

Janus rolls his eyes fondly, and kisses the confusion off of Roman’s face. “My ship is called the Romeo.”

The recognition in Roman’s eyes is too cute to ignore, so Janus kisses him once more.

“Janus, I… I love you.”

“I love you too, Roman.”

+++

The two captains stand on the deck of the Romeo, overlooking the tranquil midnight sea. They hold hands, both silently admiring the other man and reminiscing.

Roman, to his credit, doesn’t take long to adjust to his new home on the sea, after a tearful goodbye to the irreparable Juliet. His crew, who were all sick of Roman’s ridiculous pining, were more than happy to join the crew of the Romeo if it meant getting their captain to shut up for once.

“Roman?” Janus brings Roman out of his memory induced haze.

“Yes, my treasure?” Responds Roman, his feelings of love and adoration easily seeping into his words.

“Thank you. For sparing me.”

“Wouldn’t have had it any other way, Shark Bait,” Roman grins, cheeky as ever.

Janus grimaces best he can, but Roman can see right through it. “Nevermind, throw me overboard now.”

The following laughs of the two captains ring through the sky and sea, echoing into the passing ships.

The waves crash into the Romeo, and Roman smiles at his old friend, the ocean that has never steered him wrong. He can't help but to thank her, quickly and quietly, for knowing better than him.

Of all the gifts she has given him throughout the years, he has to agree that Janus is certainly the best one.

**Author's Note:**

> hmm throw me overboard if u see a typo pls
> 
> comments and kudos will repair the juliet smh rip 😔✌️


End file.
